Making the most of his light weight and explosive characteristics, the 2010 world number one Joaquin ‘Purito’ Rodriguez (Katusha) raced to victory on today’s fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. The Catalan rider surged clear on the final ramp up to the finish line at Valdepeñas de Jaén, benefiting from an acceleration on that ramp by yesterday’s winner, his team-mate Daniel Moreno.
He hit the line a clear four seconds ahead of closest chaser Wout Poels (Vacansoleil), with Moreno a further second back in third. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Michele Scarponi (Lampre ISD) and Haimar Zubeldia (Team RadioShack) completed the top six.
“I’ve clearly achieved more than I expected with the gap I created over my adversaries on such a short distance”, a happy Rodriguez said afterwards. “It was a hard stage with a breakaway comprising riders of the calibre of Rein Taarämae and Micheal Albasini, so it took a lot of work to prevent them from taking more than two or three minutes advantage. The last kilometre was extremely spectacular. It was like a big Belgian classic with a huge crowd. Everyone was yelling ‘Purito!’ It was very enjoyable.”
The finale of the race was marked by a strong acceleration by the triple King of the Mountains winner David Moncoutie (Cofidis). He attacked on the penultimate climb and had a lead of over 30 seconds at the summit, but cracked on the final ramp and was passed by Rodriguez and the others who were fighting for the stage victory.
Overnight leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) finished 37th, 31 seconds back, but had enough time on hand to once again keep his red jersey. The other riders are nearing him, however, with Moreno being just nine seconds back and Rodriguez 23 seconds away.
The Frenchman knows his time at the top is limited, but he’s enjoying the jersey while he can. “I’m very happy, The race was gruelling; at the beginning of the stage we were riding fast and hard. For the entire day it was like being on a roller coaster, all day up and down,” he said. “Fortunately, today wasn’t as hot as the last few days. The most important thing is to have held on to the jersey and paid back the team for the extraordinary work they did today. Special praise to Malacarne, whose action allowed us to save some energy on the team.”
Davide Malacarne was one of eight riders who went clear early on, his presence in the break taking a little pressure of the Quick Step squad. Also present was HTC Highroad rider Michael Albasini, who attacked close to 100 kilometres into the stage and pushed on alone.
He was joined soon afterwards by Angel Madrazo (Movistar) and Johannes Frohlinger (Skil Shimano), and these pushed onwards towards the finish. Madrazo was the last to be recaptured, but he too was hauled back, paving the way for a big battle for stage honours.
Towards the end, the Liquigas-Cannondale team of last year’s race winner Vincenzo Nibali worked hard to set their leader up for a big push towards the lead but the climb didn’t go quite as well as expected for the Italian. After placing second there last year, he was eleventh on the stage, eleven seconds back, and is now fifth overall. Nibali is 33 seconds away from the top of the leaderboard, but remains well within striking distance.
The race continues tomorrow with a 185.7 kilometre leg from Úbeda to Córdoba. It is thought most likely to end in a bunch sprint.
Long break precedes final showdown:
An aggressive start to the race led to constant attacks before an octet of riders got established and moved clear. Those present included the HTC Highroad rider Michael Albasini, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), Tom Slagter (Rabobank), who started the move, plus Davide Malacarne (Quick Step), Adrian Palomares (Andalucia Caja Granada), Angel Madrazo (Movistar), Johannes Frohlinger (Skil Shimano) and Tour of Poland winner Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale).
These riders tried to establish a decent lead but found it difficult to build more than a minute’s advantage due to chasing by the peloton plus a disjointed cooperation. The latter frustrated Albasini and prompted him to kick clear alone as he neared 100 kilometres of racing. Approximately 20 kilometres later he had built a lead of over two minutes on the Katusha and Quick Step-led peloton, and was making decent progress.
He reached the intermediate sprint at Venta de Pantalones 40 seconds ahead of chasers Frohlinger and Madrazo, the sole riders left from the earlier move, with the bunch a further minute back. That chasing duo succeeded in bridging inside the final 40 kilometres, but the bunch was chasing hard and drew ever-closer.
Madrazo kicked clear 25 kilometres from the line in a futile attempt to stay clear, but he – like the other two – was reeled in. The Katusha-led peloton raced onwards to the Alto de Valdepeñas climb, where Nibali’s Liquigas-Cannondale team took over and drove the pace along. They powered along the front with 14 kilometres to go, then the Katusha team soon took over for Joaquim Rodriguez. They knew the finish should suit his characteristics perfectly and after taken second place at the same location last year, were determined to help him improve on that.
Late attacks, then the winning move:
Astana rider Alexsandr Dyachenko jumped clear twelve kilometres from the finish and opened a gap. Less than a kilometre later David Moncoutie (Cofidis) attacked, aiming for both the stage win and the points to help him take what would be a record fourth consecutive King of the Mountains title.
He quickly caught and passed Dyachenko, roaring past him with eleven kilometres to go and leading the race. Behind, Katusha and Liquigas-Cannondale continued to set the pace, putting last year’s race leader Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) in real difficulty. As was the case yesterday, he would crack before the finish and lose even more time.
Moncoutie was 26 seconds clear with ten kilometres to go and sought to continue building a buffer before the descent and the final climb. He went over the summit two kilometres later with a 35 second lead, but lost ten of those seconds by the time he started the two kilometre ramp up to the finish line. He lost a further ten second over the next 1000 metres, and cracked after the kite, being swallowed up.
Moreno and Rodriguez attacked on the steepest part of the climb and opened a lead; Rodriguez then accelerated again and raced to a fine stage win. Poels and Moreno took second and third, with Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema fourth and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) fifth.
By and large, the time gaps weren’t huge but a number of GC contenders lost over ten seconds to Rodriguez. These include Nibali (11th) and Denis Menchov (Geox TMC), who both conceded eleven, Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank SunGard), Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling), who dropped twenty, and yesterday’s third-place finisher Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervélo), who conceded 29. Igor Anton, who crashed out while wearing the leader’s jersey twelve months ago, lost 57 seconds on the final climb. He won there last year and the result showed what a difference the 2010 and 2011 versions are.
The stage victory moves Rodriguez to 23 seconds off the red jersey, and he believes that the boost to morale will more than overcome the effort he put out today.
“I don’t think I have spent more energy than the others,” he said afterwards. “Everyone will be tired after such a stage. It’s often said in cycling that the winners are less tired than the others because of the high morale. It’s not a surprise for me to do this because I’ve said since the beginning of the Vuelta that I was here for the win.
“I’m satisfied with where I’m standing on GC [third behind Sylvain Chavanel and his team-mate Dani Moreno, ahead of all the other favourites]. Most of the favourites are still in contention with no big difference. Many things can change, as we’ve seen last year at the time trial. I expect to stay at the same level in the mountains until the end of the Vuelta.”
He and the other general classification riders should have some respite tomorrow. The stage is more suited to the sprinters, and so the overall contenders can do what they can to conserve energy prior to the next battles.